Autor: Georgii Feodoridi

            Kseniia Feodoridi

Place: HYDITEX Corporation, Port Vila, Vanuatu

Date: October 2026

Abstract: Carbon crediting for projects on forests on customary land in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia depends on a number of institutional conditions. This article explores how the combination of customary land tenure, national legislation and carbon standards’ rules affects the transition from forests’ ecological value to the creation of units to be shared with local people. A comparative analysis of literature, of national legislation, policies and programs as well as of the rules of several carbon standards is provided. An analytical sequence from ecosystems via rights to mitigation outcomes, from methodology via verification to registration and finally from registration to benefits is developed. The recognition of carbon rights in national legislation as well as the procedures to prove these rights on the ground as well as the conditions for participation by communities are compared. While the absence of dedicated legislation for carbon rights does not necessarily mean that a project cannot be developed, the existence of legislation does not automatically guarantee effective implementation. Separately from the assessment of a project’s carbon stock, additionality of the mitigation outcomes created by a project must be assessed. Social outcomes can be evaluated by looking at the degree of community representation, the voluntary nature of decisions, the actual size of benefits created and their impact on participants’ livelihoods. The findings presented here are limited to the analysis of documents and do not replace a study based on primary data from project participants.

Key Words: customary land tenure; Melanesia; carbon rights; carbon credits; local communities; benefit sharing; blue carbon.

DOI: DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.235